Old Clothes With a New Life on Campus

Old Clothes With a New Life on Campus

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Next time you feel the need to shop for clothes, you don't need to go far at all. Just head to the URBN Center, home of the Antoinette Westphal School of Media Arts & Design, and step into Reworn, Drexel University's student-run secondhand shop.

You'll be able to shop a collection of clothes sourced from things students donated after moving out of residence halls, curated by Sadie Patterson, fashion industry & merchandising '25. There are casual items, like jeans and tops, and some pieces that can be worn to co-op and more professional settings. Students can come in and shop from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, by scanning a QR code and paying online. Funds are split between the Fashion Industry Merchandising Student Fund and Pennsylvania Fibershed, which works to build local fiber systems.

Right now, Reworn is moving towards its winter collection. Patterson considers three main things when making a collection: the clientele, the season and the space itself.

"I'll make a color scheme and mood boards," Patterson said. "In my mind I have three main customers, which are the more alternative, punky people; the classic, simple, more minimal people; and the wild cards who like to experiment and try on crazy things. I'll pick equal amounts for all those different people and make sure they all work together visually."

Reworn has been open since July 2024 and aims to help address textile waste at Drexel. is Rachel Higgins, an instructor in design and merchandising with a background in sustainable and circular fashion, originally organized it and now helps source clothes from the Climate & Sustainability team's project that collects and donates clothes that students discard at moveout.

Bo Solomon, executive director of Climate & Sustainability, works annually to collect and donate clothes that students discard at moveout as one part of what his office does as they try to build a more sustainable Drexel with initiatives including the Climate Action Plan, the Race to Zero Waste and the Buy Nothing Depot. Higgins joined the collection efforts to help divert items from the donation pile.

"Only about 20% of everything that you donate actually goes somewhere. About 80% of it ends up in a landfill," Higgins said. "We want to say, 'OK, what can we keep in our own local community?' A lot of the stuff we donate gets baled up and shipped to places around the world and ends up as waste there. We have to deal with our own waste."

Part of dealing with that waste includes collecting data on the clothing left behind, Higgins said, which includes cataloguing the fiber makeup, if it's synthetic or natural and what type of item it is (like, for example, pants, a top or something else). Higgins' goal was an elevated thrift store where you don't have to search through piles or crowded racks.

Patterson runs the day-to-day business of Reworn as an independent study student and is currently working on making it into an ecommerce space. Chris Baeza, associate program director and assistant teaching professor in fashion industry & merchandising, encouraged her to take on Reworn. She's created new graphics for the store and organized a photoshoot featuring clothes from the fall collection styled on students from around Westphal.

Day-to-day, Patterson makes sure the store stays stocked, replacing things that have sold with inventory from the back. There's not a lot of physical upkeep necessary, especially since all payments are online.

"I've worked in retail since I was 15, so I understand how retail spaces are laid out and organizing and picking the clothing came very easily for me," Patterson said. "I learned a lot about the accessibility of a space and how to make it clean and visually interesting."

Another big part of Patterson's role is building Reworn's online presence, which will be live soon. This includes photos from the shoot she led, graphics she created, a website and an Instagram account that helps market the store and clothing.

"Styling is my main interest and I love visual merchandising, so I really embraced the idea of having the space and clothes that I can design," Patterson said. "I took a lot from what Rachel did, and I've noticed things sell pretty quickly, including a lot of the things I used in the photoshoot, which felt really nice. The best feedback I get is when things sell."

Students who want to get involved can always help with sorting, both in the current inventory and at the end of the year, when donations are collected from students moving out. Patterson is working on photographing and cataloguing everything in the inventory to put it online.

"Overall, it's a really exciting and fun thing for Westphal to have and I just wish more people knew about it, and I'd love to hear input on what people think about it," Patterson said.